


Don't Hear

by Kunstpause



Series: All the things you shouldn't do [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Not yet romance, Prequel, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27155638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kunstpause/pseuds/Kunstpause
Summary: Althea has always felt like the odd one out, for more than one reason. Some of them were obvious. Hiding her past meant keeping some distance after all. Other reasons, though, she couldn't hide from herself indefinitely.
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Series: All the things you shouldn't do [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982170
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A prequel story to Don't Falter, based on several FFXIV write prompts.

“It’s only natural that I would hate them. I am not a bad person for this!”

Lyse’s words rang in Althea’s ears, repeating themselves over and over again. All through the evening and deep into the night when she tossed around, chasing the ever-illusive blessing of sleep. It refused to be captured and so the middle of the night found her alone in the training grounds, weapons sharpened as she attacked the training dummies over and over again, trying to let the rush of fighting drown out the words in her head.

She was out here, beyond Baelsar's Wall, fighting the Empire on a daily basis. Nothing too challenging for the Warrior of Light, but Thea _knew_. She knew she was supposed to feel something more about this. About confronting her past on a daily basis, of fighting each day, never knowing if she had just killed someone she once knew. But what exactly she should feel about that, she couldn't fathom. Everyone else around her had rather strong opinions about what they were doing. About the war. The occupation. The resistance.

Everyone but her.

Granted, most of the time no one even asked her opinion anyway, but something in her felt she should at least have one that caused more than a shrug from her. Others certainly did.

_"'I am not a bad person for this!'_

Lyse certainly wasn't. Her friend was the opposite of a bad person in Thea's eyes. Everything the resistance could ask for in an ally. Thea frowned at the thought, that the same could probably not said about herself. That was if people would actually know about her. Not many people knew about the past of their vaunted hero. The resistance certainly didn't, and neither did Lyse. With an uneasy feeling, touched by a slight hint of guilt, Thea remembered the last time someone found out about her.

* * *

She had just put the last remainders of their dinner away, getting ready for a good night’s rest, when she heard the unmistakable sound of armor next to her.

“Thea, a word?”

Estinien didn’t really wait for an answer before turning and walking away. After a brief moment of indecision, Althea shrugged, and with a glance towards the peacefully grazing chocobos, she followed him.

“What’s up?” she called out the moment she had caught up with him. “If this is about anything plan-related, you might want to talk to Alphinaud instead, I’m afraid I don’t even remember all the details of what he said earlier,” she admitted with a loop-sided smile that didn't truly reach her eyes, but the man next to her only shook his head as he kept walking.

“No, we need to talk. But not this close to camp,” Estinien grumbled. It was only now that Thea noticed just how far away from their camp they had already gotten with the tempo he had set. 

“Alright,” she shrugged again, managing to fall into step next to him. “We are keeping secrets now then?”

It was supposed to be a light remark, but the grin froze on her face as Estinien let out a small growl.

“I’m not the one with the secrets,” he said lowly, finally stopping. She could only see half of his face, but it was enough to know he didn’t share her deliberately lighthearted mood at all. His lips pressed into a thin line as he turned around.

“You changed both your armor and your weapons when we went up to the Aery,” he said without further ado. There was something in his voice she couldn’t quite place. Anger? Was he upset that she changed her fighting style so shortly before an important mission?

“Look,” she began slowly, “if you are worried that I would jeopardize a mission just for some passing fancy, you are wrong. I thought it was the right call. You said you needed someone to have your back, so you can get close in without much resistance, and I knew I could provide it this way.” She could see from the way he held himself, that he was not entirely satisfied with what he was hearing. “I assure you, I knew what I was doing. I’ve trained with heavy weapons and armor long before I ever took up any magical arts.”

She hadn’t expected the scoff at her words.

“That much was obvious.” Estinien’s voice was dry, and Thea felt confusion wash over her. 

“Then what is the matter?” Her question sounded almost daring as she straightened up. “I obviously knew what to do and we managed everything just fine. So what is your problem?”

Thea had to force herself to stand still and not flinch when Estinien suddenly stepped closer. She was used to towering over most people she met, if only by the length of her ears, but he was still a bit taller than her, and the heavy armor he wore only emphasized the difference.

“My problem?” His voice was still low but now it held an underlying tension that gave her pause. “My problem is that I’ve watched you fight. I’ve seen the way you blocked all those attacks meant for me. The way you pull your shield up in the last possible moments. The way you hold your sword in that special grip that leaves you enough flexibility to flip your weapon if needed. I’ve seen it all.”

Althea felt only more confused than before after his accurate description of her preferred fighting style. “So what?” she asked, “you think my style is not secure enough? Not good enough somehow?”

“No, your execution was absolutely perfect.” The laugh that accompanied his words didn’t sound humorous at all. “Your style is _flawless_.” He took another step closer towards her. “It is also distinctively _not_ the style taught by the Gladiator’s guild of Ul'dah.”

Althea felt something in her tighten, as an uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. 

“I never said I trained as a gladiator,” she said slowly. “It’s quite a difference to the several schools of paladins and I…”

“A paladin trains for protection first,” Estinien interrupted her sharply. “The untrained eye might believe that is what you are doing, but your focus on your sword, your stance, the way you move your shield… You never trained as a paladin either. You fight like a hoplomachus.”

His words drew all the air out of her lungs. Hastily, Thea tried to think of something to say. Anything really to dissuade him from the notion, but the more she tried the more all her words seemed to slip further out of her reach. The silence between them stretched on, her lack of an answer confirming his thoughts. 

“So I am right then,” he finally said before demonstratively looking her over, his gaze lingering on her ears. “Even though you look decisively not Garlean.”

She could only scoff at his remark. “The Empire is surprisingly non-discriminating, as long as you can fight for them, that is.” And though she never lived among her people, Viera were known well enough for their battle prowess that no one ever questioned her suitability at least. She could see him tense up, and she hurried along to hopefully dispel any further misgivings. “It’s not what you think. I was adopted as a child, a war orphan, but I am not…” Thea sighed. “I am not here to cause any trouble. I left my home behind many years ago, and my allegiance is to the Scions first and foremost.”

Estinien looked into the direction their camp lay for a moment. “They know then?” he asked, and Thea nodded.

“Some of them do,” she admitted. “Alphinaud knows. And Minfilia does but she said…” She paused briefly, trying to quell down the feelings thinking about Minfilia brought up. They still hadn’t found any trace of their missing companions, despite Tataru trying her best to find every bit of information she could. But it was of no use to dwell on it right now, and she took a deep breath to center herself instead. “Minifilia said that not everyone would understand, so I keep it to myself most of the time.” 

“Alright then.”

Thea blinked at his short declaration. “Alright?”

Estinien only shrugged. “What did you expect me to do? Duel you right now, after you’ve played such a vital part in all this?”

“Well, you got me away from camp to confront me and…” Thea’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t appreciate being made to feel unreasonable, and Estinien certainly had a knack for exactly that.

He sounded surprisingly open though, as he answered, “I just had to know. And I had to hear it from you.”

He had to? She wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. “From me?” 

“You know, we’ve had spies from Garlemald before,” Estinien said almost nonchalantly. “People trying to infiltrate the knights, the high houses. Someone specifically sent to keep an eye on Aymeric…”

Suddenly, the extra tension she had felt earlier started to make even more sense. “You were worried I might be just that? Sent after Ser Aymeric?”

“It crossed my mind. You got into his good graces quite quickly. And when I saw you fight…” Estinien spoke much more relaxed now, but Thea had no doubt that he was deadly serious about this.

“So if I had given you a real reason to believe I could be a spy…”

At that, he let out a dry chuckle. “As you said, we are away from camp for a reason.”

Despite the humor in his voice, Thea was well aware of the not-so-hidden warning. Yet it didn’t seem to be an outright threat, a nuance that still confused her.

“Yet you decided to believe me? To trust me?” she asked carefully.

“For now.” Estinien sighed as he turned away, looking over the plains of Dravania beneath them. “I will still be watching. It’s my job to protect and ensure the soul and the future of Ishgard first and foremost.”

There was something in his voice, in the way he said those words that made Thea smile to herself. “Protect the future of Ishgard, or rather Ser Aymeric himself?” she asked, barely managing to hide the insinuation. She hadn’t been prepared for the seriousness on his face, nor the unmistakable tone of passion in his voice, as he turned back around and calmly spoke.

“They are one and the same!”

And to her lasting surprise, those had been the last words on the topic for Estinien. After their continued shared fight for his home, he never again had brought up what he had found out.

* * *

With a huff, she caught her weapons again before starting the whole exercise all over. Estinien had been just as passionate about his home as Lyse was. In fact, each of the Scions seemed to have a deep connection to their roots. Whether they loved their home or not, they held incredibly strong opinions about it all the same. Yet all Althea could feel within herself was indifference. The thought about her loving parents at least managed to coax a small smile from her lips. But they had been gone for years now, unfortunate victims of the Calamity. 

So why did Lyse's passion, why did her mere words suddenly bother her so? Lyse had been _right_ by all means. There was absolutely nothing wrong with hating the people who destroyed her home. Who broke her country apart. Who killed countless of her countrymen. Lyse may have made some missteps here and there, but she was by no means a bad person. If anything, she was one of those people who were almost a bit too eager to do good. Often driven by a naive sense of righteousness. It led her to do foolish things once in a while. But never callous ones. Never bad ones. And at least it led her to actually doing something, instead of waiting around for someone else to start a fire.

And yet…

_“It’s only natural…”_

Suddenly Thea stopped, only barely catching her returning chakram right before it cut into her hand. She was motionless, eyes still fixed in front of her, staring blankly at nothing at all as she felt the realization run through her. She didn’t dare to breathe for a moment as she finally understood why Lyse’s words had bothered her so much. _“It’s only natural”_ sounded almost like mockery in her head as she admitted to herself, that she had never before felt anything even remotely like it. That she had never felt this kind of certainty in her hatred or love before. The hatred Lyse had for her oppressors, the love she held for her home… The vastness, the depth of her emotions felt extraordinary to Althea. Not like anything she would describe as _normal_. At least not for herself. 

For a second everything inside her felt sharp. Her body tense, like flesh clenching around the sharp pain of a stab wound as she felt the bitter pangs of jealousy ripple through her. It was gone as soon as it had appeared, but a dull pain inside her remained, like a weak echo of the piercing pain she was capable of feeling.

It was a sobering thought. Knowing that she had never felt this strongly about anything. Good or bad. Thea didn’t hate people. She barely knew how to care about most of the people she met. Their pleas for help, and the consideration of the greater good they often had in mind when they did what they did, stirred something in her. A sense of satisfaction. But she didn’t love what she did. Althea wasn’t sure if she ever really had. She couldn’t remember a single instance where she had been even half as consumed by emotions as most of her friends seemed to be on a regular basis. 

No. At this moment it was clearer to her than ever before. She had never loved or hated anything or anyone the way she saw others do. A familiar feeling of alienation went through her, reminding her of home. Of the young girl she used to be, that outwardly wanted for nothing, yet never felt quite whole. The young woman fighting tooth and nail for her spot in the military academy, proving her worth every day through blood, sweat, and tears. All while never quite belonging. Always on the outside, even when surrounded by her peers. It had always felt a bit like everyone around her was seeing the world and its people more closely, understood them better than she did. Like she was stuck in a black and white view, while everyone else described colors to her she simply couldn't see. For the things that touched her companions never seemed to evoke the same kind of passion from her.

She kept hitting the training dummy for another few minutes, going through the motions as she mulled the same thoughts over and over before she finally went back to her tent in hope of some sleep. Tomorrow they would make haste to Rhalgar’s Reach, and though she was mildly curious just how that famed resistance base Lyse told her about would look like, it wasn’t more than a mild, passing interest. 

_‘Pathetic,’_ whispered her own mind at her as her eyes fell shut to the feeling of feint longing for something she didn’t have the words to describe.


	2. Chapter 2

Rhalgr’s Reach changed everything.

For the resistance, for the people of not one, but two nations, and most of all, for Thea herself. It had been her first taste of utter defeat and she was determined like never before, that it would remain her only one. Thea had triumphed over the Ultima Weapon. Had hunted down primal after primal without faltering once. Fought one of the most powerful dragons in existence and had walked away victorious only to be brought low by a single person? 

Impossible.

A reality she could scarcely accept. And so she trained. And trained. Working herself to the bone, until her shaking arms were unable to hold on to her weapons. Until her feet gave out from under her, and her hands were bleeding from the strain of the never-ending cycle of parry and block. In a way, she almost relished the pain that came with it. It felt deserved. Like a just punishment for all the people, she had failed to protect that day. For her friends who got hurt, for the many wounded who barely made it through that day in Rhalgr’s Reach. And for all the ones who didn’t. The dead. The people who fell right in front of her, staining the sand red with their blood as Althea's knees had hit the mossy ground and she had fallen. Beaten, bleeding, and for the first time, defeated.

Just how it could have come to this...

Whenever she closed her eyes, Thea saw the battle again. Imperial soldiers everywhere, the resistance's secret hideout overrun. She and the scions had almost managed to turn the battle - until _he_ had entered the battlefield. Zenos yae Galvus, legatus of the XIIth legion, viceroy of Doma and Ala Mhigo, and the crown prince of Garlemald. Someone who's name she had grown up with. A man with a reputation as terrifying as it was elusive. Thea had never before laid eyes on him, not even back home. He was known for eschewing public appearances and politics. But he was here now, clad in imposing armor, sweeping over the battlefield with an ease that looked nearly unnatural. Thea's breath was still shaky when she remembered their fight as she tried to stop him from felling down the entire resistance single-handily. Her frantic tries to outmaneuver him. His unbothered, unshaken strides towards her. The uncomfortable truth sneaking up on her, that she had simply been outmatched. She had looked at it from all angles, gone over the fight, again and again, trying to find any obvious mistakes she had made. Any tricks he had employed. 

There were none.

The only reason she was still alive was that he hadn’t cared enough to strike a final blow in the end. It was a bitter, humiliating realization. The indomitable hero of Eorzea simply hadn’t been good enough. A knowledge that made her stomach turn when she thought about just how much the resistance counted on her. 

The weeks full of guilt turned into months. She left the fight for Ala Mhigo behind. A plan was made to gain ground against the Empire by forcing them to split their attention, and so they sailed towards the far east. To Doma, trying to help another nation in their resistance effort and gaining some support for their own. It was a slow endeavor, made only bearable by her tendency to train every free moment she had to keep her mind from dwelling on her defeat. But even with all she tried, Thea felt restless. And when Yugiri came up with a plan for an ambush, Thea jumped at the chance. Part of her knew full well that it was reckless for them to even try, but another, far louder part agreed in a heartbeat. Jumping at the chance for another confrontation with the man that had bested her. This time on her terms. 

When she saw Zenos entering the abandoned village where they were lying in wait, Thea couldn’t help but wonder why he would travel with an escort. Eight men, dressed in the traditional garb of the Garlean army. She knew he was easily stronger than all of them together. After all, she could dispatch eight Garlean soldiers in her sleep and with one hand tied behind her back. If the crown prince needed an escort in these parts of the land, and this was what was deemed appropriate, maybe there had been something weird going on the last time she saw him. Had she been unusually weak that day after all? 

But there was no time for further deliberations. She watched him speak to the pilus in front of him as Yugiri vanished from her side, getting into position. Heavy rain fell around them, feeling like a gift from the gods as it obscured both the view and the sounds they made. Thea stayed where she was, waiting for her friend to give her the sign. Both her hands firmly holding on to her already drawn chakrams. She was ready for this. Every day she had worked herself into exhaustion during the past almost four months had prepared her for this. She would not fail again.

The next few moments passed by in a blur, and when Yugiri’s attack hardly even bothered him, Thea felt her confidence wane and her doubts return. Her own attack from the flank was countered just as quickly. As expected, she had no issue cutting down half his guard with absolute ease. But before she could even get close to him, Zenos had drawn his sword. Just like the last time, she could hardly see what he was doing, but she felt the impact of an overwhelming force throwing her back several yalms. She clutched her weapons tighter, trying to breathe through the pain as she went back on the attack but it didn’t take long for her to realize, that all her training hadn’t been enough. Without a care in the world, he countered every one of her hits. No matter how precisely she threw her chakrams, how much she dodged his hits, she was losing ground fast.

The fight was longer than their last one, but it ended the same. As she hit the ground with a pained grunt, one of her weapons sent flying, she cursed. Zenos wasn’t even breathing any faster. Standing in front of her, sword drawn, he seemed utterly calm as he looked down. 

“Ah, I remember you,” he drawled. “Ala Mhigo. The champion of the savages.”

The disdain in his voice made her gnash her teeth as she looked up at him with all the hate she could muster. The burning red blade of his sword loomed above her, standing out brightly against the pitch-black sky. All she could focus on at that moment was the blade. How it rose up as he drew his arm back to deal the final blow. Thea fought her instinct to close her eyes. If this was the end, she would be damned if she shied away from it now.

But the blow didn't come. Instead, the hard sound of metal breaking filled the air. Everything froze as Zenos suddenly stopped, tilting his head in confusion. 

Thea blinked, trying to understand what was happening when she saw the tip of his helmet falling to the ground. It seemed like her last hit had found his mark after all. A small sliver of grim satisfaction went through her. Not that it mattered. She was still defeated. It changed nothing that her last act managed to scratch his armor, but it almost made her smile. One last act of defiance.

It took her another few seconds to realize, that the expected blow from his sword still wasn’t coming. Zenos stood perfectly still for a moment and then… he lowered his sword, sheathing it smoothly. Slowly he reached up, touching the broken part of his helmet as if he had trouble believing what had just happened. Thea’s eyes were fixed on his every move as he suddenly went to unclasp the helmet, taking it off and looking at it curiously.

She held her breath. 

Thea had known he was Garlean. But in all the time she had lived there, he had only ever been known as the illusive crown-prince, never to be seen in public. And somehow, she had never stopped and considered what he might look like underneath the heavy armor he wore. The pointed helmet and the grim-looking mask on it had stalked her nightmares, visions of a horned demon that haunted her sleep. Only he did not look like a demon at all. Quite the opposite, she realized. His long blond hair shimmered almost golden in the faint light of the moon. Piercing blue eyes looked at the broken helmet in his hand before he carelessly threw it away and focused back on her. The thought that he looked like a divine painting went through her head unbidden. But the most unsettling thing was the faint smile on his lips.

“How right I was to spare your life,” Zenos murmured. "I can't even remember the last time managed as much as a scratch on my armor." His eyes narrowed at her. “Hear me, hero," he said, sounding almost pleasant. Almost. There was something sharp underlying his voice, something that sent a tremor of fear through her. Fear and something that felt suspiciously like anticipation. "Endure. Survive. _Live._ ” He spoke low, barely even audible over the sound of the heavy rain still falling around them, but somehow Thea understood each word clearly as he went on. “For the rush of blood, for the time between seconds - live.” She swallowed, thinking that it was highly unfair that his voice sounded like it did without the modifications from his mask. She couldn’t look away as he took a step toward her. 

“For the sole pleasure left to me in this empty, ephemeral world - live!”

Thea opened her mouth, unsure what she was even trying to say when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Yugiri had gotten back up, charging towards him with both her daggers drawn. Without even deigning to look in her direction Zenos drew his sword again, the force of his swing throwing her back in a high arch. Thea flinched at the dull thud her friend’s body made as it hit the ground.

With a sigh, Zenos turned towards Yugiri, a clear look of boredom on his face. 

“You are not worthy,” he said casually, shifting his sword in his hands, ready to strike when an arrow hit the ground between him and his goal. 

“Get away from her you Imperial dog!”

The angry voice sounded familiar and Thea turned around. Behind them was a whole bunch of villagers. The ones they had tried and failed to convince to join their rebellion. Each of them armed with a makeshift weapon, spears, crude bows, in what looked like an attempt to stand up against their oppressors by any means necessary.

 _No!_ Was the first thing that went through her mind. _Nononono._ Part of Thea admired their courage but the far greater part cursed it to the very heavens. This would not end well. Organized, with the backing of the resistance, they could have built something. But choosing to take up arms now? Here? It was suicide. Yugiri seemed to think much of the same as she tried to sit up again, her face scrunched in obvious pain.

“No, please…” she begged. “You must flee!”

“We are not going anywhere! Do you hear me? We’re not running away!” the young man at the front of the impromptu mob shouted. “What you are doing is stupid and reckless and I never wanted any part of it, but here we are.” His face held the grim determination of someone who would not let himself be swayed from his course as he talked about how they had changed his life, how he wanted to help. How all of them were finally ready to rise up. 

Thea couldn’t help but wince. She could hear the passion behind his words. The righteous anger. Clear as day, yet unrelatable as ever to her. How many times had she herself charged into battle armed with nothing more than confidence, fighting against impossible odds? In a way, they only did what she had shown them to do. What Yugiri and her had done had inspired them and Thea could only think of one appropriate thing to deal about that: Guilty. They had looked at her and saw what everyone else saw. A hero. Never backing down, never surrendering. And now they had taken up arms, ready to follow in her footsteps, not knowing how dearly it would cost them.

“Death is death, regardless of the reason.”

Zenos spoke quietly. There was no admiration for their bravery in his eyes, as he looked around, only frighteningly familiar resignation. “Yet you seem determined to die, intruding upon this sacred ground, turning weapons you can scarcely wield upon me. Your lives will not even begin to redress the balance.”

Thea gasped as she realized he was going to kill them all before one of them could even begin to change their mind. She scrambled to get up, pain from the injuries their fight had left her with surging through her, making her stumble and fall back onto her knees. 

Before she could try again a smoke bomb went off around them. The air became thicker, as a fog of white mist started to spread. A fine tactic, in theory, that would not do them any good. Not with the rain that would make it dispense in but a few moments. And not against someone like Zenos. She could hear him move, the heavy sounds of his armor marking every step. To her surprise, she didn’t hear the cries of dying rebels yet. Only his steps. Getting louder. Closer, until he was suddenly right in front of her. 

Thea was trying to make sense of what was happening when he bent down, almost kneeling, the small smile back on his face as he reached for her chakram. 

“Bagging a trophy? Isn’t that somewhat petty?” she spat out before even thinking. Part of her didn’t care about how wise it might or might not be to provoke him. After all, he hadn’t killed her so far.

Zenos didn’t seem offended at all as he glanced at the weapon, then back at her. “More of an incentive,” he said, sounding slightly amused, like there was a joke in all of this only she didn’t get.

Thea narrowed her eyes. “That is mine… I will get it back!”

“You know where to find me,” he answered plainly. "Just follow the trail of your dead."

She didn’t understand what game he was playing, but something burning hot went through her. Anger, like she never felt before. “I will get stronger,” she hissed. “I _will_ beat you!”

Thea had not been prepared for the way his eyes lit up at her words. For the look of pure joy rushing over his face. For the genuine honesty in his voice, as he took her weapon and straightened up again.

“I look forward to it!”

He smiled again, wider this time before he turned around and walked away. Unhurried and unbothered by any potential conflict still around them. Through the slowly clearing fog, she could see him order his remaining men to retreat, not even sparing a single look back at the still ready to fight villagers.

She saw Yugiri getting up again, rushing towards them, making sure no one gave in to the urge to attack the retreating Imperial forces. Cheering filled the air, the villagers obviously taking his retreat for a victory. Thea quietly shook her head. She would never have the heart to tell them that it had nothing to do with them. Neither would Yugiri or any of their other allies. The more shrewd of them would most likely use this day to strengthen their resolve, to bolster morale throughout their forces. They would twist what had happened into a triumph. Thea had seen it often enough, though she had never been involved quite like this before. 

When someone helped her up a while later, handing her the remaining chakram, she held on to it with a grim determination. She had heard quite a few stories about Zenos yae Galvus. About how he didn’t care for anything. How he was ruthlessly efficient, never showing even a hint of emotion. How he never showed mercy. Never accepted a single surrender. Left no survivors. And yet...

He had definitely not been what she had expected. Everything about this day didn’t quite fit with what she had learned about him. Until she remembered another thing the people had said about him. The viceroy of Ala Mhigo was a hunter. Her weapon wasn’t a trophy. _‘Incentive’_ he had said and suddenly Thea understood what it really was. 

_Bait._

It could not be more obvious that he expected her to come after him. He definitely hadn’t tried to obscure his intention, seemingly beyond certain that she would follow into what was the most obvious trap she had ever seen. And she held no doubts that he knew that as well. The sheer arrogance behind it was nearly baffling, but most of all, it was infuriating. When they returned to camp, the wild mix of anger, fury, and confusion still had her hands nearly shake from their intensity. Stirring something inside her that felt raw and entirely new. Thea knew exactly what every one of her friends would suggest. To lay low. To be lucky she got out of this alive. To ignore him and try to find another way to go after him. It would be downright stupid to even consider to try and get her weapon back just like that.

But for the first time ever Thea felt so much it was nearly overwhelming. And it made one thing absolutely certain - she would track him down. As soon as possible. 

And when she found out he had left Doma behind only a few weeks later, it took her no time to make the decision and sneak out of their camp in the middle of the night. The anger still burned in her veins. A single chakram hung from her hips, as she made her way to the nearest Aetherite with a clear goal on her mind. Ala Mhigo. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Come talk to me over on tumblr ^^](https://kunstpause.tumblr.com)


End file.
